Three's a Crowd
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: Sofia has accidentally created two copies of herself, and they're causing more chaos than necessary. When she goes to Cedric for help, her annoyance with her doppelgängers reaches a tipping point. *Requested by MarionetteJ2X*


Three's a Crowd

Summary: Sofia has accidentally created two copies of herself, and they're causing more chaos than necessary. When she goes to Cedric for help, her annoyance with her doppelgangers reaches a tipping point.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show!

A/N: So… Ha! MarionetteJ2X showed me a picture she found online where a toy figurine of Cedric was faced with three toy Sofia figurines, and one was the real one claiming she needed help getting rid of them. Marionette then asked me to write a story about it, because the entire scenario is just too funny _not_ to write about. 😉 So here you have it! By the way, no, these two copies will NOT be nearly as bad as Sofia the Worst. *shudder* lol Enjoy!

*Story*

"Mr. Cedric!"

Cedric looked up from the notes he appeared to be writing only to see Sofia rush into his workshop and slam the door behind her. "Sofia?" he asked in concern, frowning at her actions and setting down his quill. He noted that she was in that outfit she'd recently begun wearing more often (unbeknownst to him, it was her Protector outfit) with her hair in the increasingly more common ponytail. "Are you all right?" He stood up just as she rushed over to him and hid behind him. "What are you doing?"

She clenched the fabric of his robe and poked her head out from behind him. "I may have done something bad…"

He sighed and rolled his eyes before gently grasping her shoulders and guiding her around to face him. "Sofia…what happened?"

Sofia laughed nervously and twiddled her thumbs before responding, "So I came across a duplication spell and got curious."

Cedric's mouth dropped as he heard heavy knocking on his door. "You didn't…"

She smiled sheepishly. "Well…"

"MR. CEDRIC!" dual voices called from the other side of the door, causing the sorcerer to snap his head in that direction.

Sofia attempted to sneak away, but Cedric held fast to her arm so that she wouldn't get too far.

"You duplicated _yourself_?" He looked down at the girl, who laughed. "Sofia… Seriously? Didn't you learn your lesson the _last_ time?"

"Well… Like I said, I got curious, so…"

"Mr. Cedric!" the girls behind the door called. "Let us in!"

"They're probably going to keep bugging you until you open the door, Mr. Cedric…"

The sorcerer sighed heavily before releasing his apprentice and walking to the door, carefully pulling it open. He gasped as two Sofia lookalikes (each dressed in her normal purple and pink dress) rushed at him and hugged him excitedly. "Oh, Merlin's Mushrooms…"

"Mr. Cedric, what took you so long?" the first copy asked sadly. "We thought you were ignoring us."

"It's bad enough we have a gazillion things plaguing our minds," the second copy—seemingly more stressed and anxious—whined. "Now you don't even want to see us. What gives, Mr. Cedric?"

"Don't scare Mr. Cedric, you two," Sofia instructed, folding her arms as she approached them.

"We couldn't scare him," Sofia's more affectionate copy gushed as she latched onto the sorcerer's arm and gazed up at him adoringly. "We'd never do that to Mr. Cedric. He's our favorite person in the world!" She giggled.

"Um…" Cedric attempted to remove the first copy by shaking his arm a bit, but he found that she wouldn't budge. He realized the second copy had at least stopped hugging him, but now she was pacing across his floor and grasping at her hair. "Sofia—"

"Yes?" all three girls responded simultaneously, looking toward him.

" _My_ Sofia—not you two…" He made a face. This was confusing. He turned toward the original princess. "Sofia, you must undo this spell." He uttered a sound of annoyance as the affectionate copy continued cuddling his arm. "The sooner, the better."

"I'd love to, Mr. Cedric, but I don't know the counter spell." She giggled innocently as he gaped at her.

"Then why _say_ it in the first place? Sofia, that's practically rule one of sorcery! Never recite a spell if you don't know the counter spell—or at the very _least_ , how to handle the repercussions."

The more stressed copy ceased her pacing and stared up at him with a perplexed expression. "You're trying to get rid of us? We just _got_ here!" She pointed toward the ponytailed princess. "Get rid of her! She's been here long enough, so it's our turn!"

Sofia lifted her hands and waved them disarmingly as she moved next to Cedric. "Hey! Don't be so hostile…"

"Besides," Cedric continued, finally shaking the first copy off of his arm and sighing in relief, " _this_ Sofia was here first." He placed his hands on the girl's shoulders as the copies both stood before them, pouts on their faces. "You're technically a part of her anyway. In essence, using the counter spell won't exactly get rid of you. It just…puts the pieces of Sofia back together."

Sofia blinked up at him. "Really?"

He leaned down and whispered, "Of course not, but play along."

She shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, he's right!"

"Fine," the second copy relented with a sigh. "But while the 'original' looks for the counter spell, can't we at least enjoy our time since we're here for now?"

Cedric gazed down at his apprentice, who gave him an imploring look. "I…suppose?"

"Great!" the first copy giggled as she tugged Sofia toward the door. "You get started then, and _we'll_ keep Mr. Cedric company!" With that, she practically shoved her out the door and shut it behind her.

Sofia gaped at the closed door. "I _know_ she didn't just kick me out…" She frowned and huffed. "Ooh, Mr. Cedric's right. The sooner those copies are gone, the better." She hurried down the stairs to get back to her room and find that counter spell as quickly as possible.

A little while later, Cedric sighed as he watched the second Sofia copy panicking about some project that she'd forgotten to finish (which made him wonder if the real Sofia was actually going through that same scenario), and then he turned to look ahead of him and blinked. The first Sofia copy was sitting on the stool across from him, her head resting in her hands and a happy smile plastered on her face. "May I help you, my dear?"

"You're the best, Mr. Cedric," she declared with a sincere lilt to her voice. "You're the greatest sorcerer ever, your tower is awesome, your magic skills are ah-mazing…" She giggled. "Is there anything you _can't_ do?"

He was taken aback by all the compliments. Granted, he was used to Sofia telling him such things by now, but never had she done so all at once. In all honesty, it seemed like a bit too much to take in. "Um, thank you, little one."

"I'm not 'little one!' I'm Sofia!"

"No, _Sofia_ is Sofia—and she'll be back soon."

The first copy pouted. "But it's just not fair! Why make us copies in the first place if she didn't mean to keep us around?"

"AHH!" the second copy gasped in horror. "That's so true! What if the original Sofia has a wicked plan to multiply herself, only to destroy her work in the end?"

Cedric rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Sofia is capable of so many things, but she is _not_ capable of a wicked plan."

The first copy smiled pleasantly. "And thankfully, Mr. Cedric, neither are you." She practically lunged at him and hugged him tightly, catching the sorcerer off guard. "I'm so happy you're not really evil! It would break my heart!"

He wasn't sure whether to comfort her after that statement or ponder any deeper meaning, but for the time being he just hesitantly patted the girl's back. "Um, yes, well… Thank you?"

The second copy put her hands on her hips. "Actually, we all have a bit of good and bad in us. Even though you've redeemed yourself, I doubt those bad intentions will ever fully go away. And I'm sure _your_ Sofia would say the same." She shrugged. "I guess even if you try to be good, eventually you're going to end up hurting her again anyway."

Cedric frowned at the mentioning. "I'd never hurt Sofia."

The first copy giggled as she sat back, putting a finger to her chin in thought. "You kind of did, Mr. Cedric… I don't think you realize _how much_ you hurt her feelings that day last year when she found out your secret." She shrugged. "I mean, of course she's better now and happy that you're on the right path, but that's sort of always going to be in the back of her mind and all."

He was floored. Of course he'd thought about such a thing before, but to have two of Sofia's magical copies bringing up things he'd tried so hard to block out? It was just about too much for him to handle.

BAM

Cedric jumped, causing the first Sofia copy to fall onto the floor. He looked toward his door to see his apprentice standing there, her breathing heavy and her wand clenched tightly in her right hand. "Sofia?"

"All right, you two," she stated as she looked toward her copies. "Time to send you back to Magic Land, or wherever you came from."

"How did you find the counter spell that fast?" the second copy demanded. "You couldn't even find your Enchantlet this morning!" She gasped, her eyes widening as her hands flew to her mouth. She noticed that the original Sofia seemed just as surprised as she did. "Oops."

Sofia sighed in exasperation and hurled the magic command toward the copies (before they could possibly do any more damage): " _Duplis Magicis Vinci_!" She smiled in relief when she noticed that the two magical copies of herself had vanished into thin air. "Good… At least now that's one—or two—problems I won't have to deal with anymore."

"Um, Sofia," Cedric began as he glanced toward her. "About what your copy said…"

The princess gave him a pleading look. "Mr. Cedric, please… I promise, one day I'll explain everything you have questions about, but please don't ask me about _that_."

He stared at her observantly before his eyes flickered to the Enchantlet wrapped around her wrist. He then nodded. "As you wish." Obviously, she didn't want to talk about the item he now understood to be an Enchantlet. While his knowledge of Mystic Isles magical items was somewhat limited (and even though he wasn't fully aware of the item's actual origins at the moment), he understood that it was powerful, and truthfully that scared him a bit. Still, Sofia was much stronger than she looked, so he had little choice other than to have confidence in her. "So…what have we learned today?"

She grinned, grateful for the change of subject. "Don't duplicate myself…again." As she turned to leave, she blinked when he gently took her hand, stopping her.

"Sofia, I…" He frowned thoughtfully before asking, "You know I never intended to hurt you last year, right? And I don't ever plan for that sort of thing to happen again."

Sofia nodded and turned fully to take both of his hands. "I know, Mr. Cedric. If nothing else, you proved yourself when you saved me a few weeks ago. No _bad guy_ would _ever_ do that." She smiled and hugged him happily, smiling as she felt him returning the hug. "You've already done some pretty amazing things, and I have a feeling you're going to do even more." She beamed up at him as she leaned back. "You're going to show the world what a wonderful sorcerer Cedric the Sensational really is. Trust me." She winked playfully before skipping out of the room, her spirits much higher than before.

Cedric chuckled at the girl's words before humming thoughtfully. "Well, when the _real_ Sofia says such a thing…who am I to argue?" He smiled before returning to his notes from before.

The end


End file.
